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City Councilman Marty Bender, R-at-large, said Tuesday night he will ask council to reconsider the smoking ban, and is drafting a proposal. Benderwas vague on specifics other than to say “they'll be some minor changes.”

“It'll be a surprise,” he said. He did not say when he might introduce his proposal.

That's rather coy. "Minor changes" that will be "a surprise"? The best guess is a return to the status quo ante, replacing the nearly total ban with the previous limited ban that exempted a few places such as bars and private clubs. That seems sensible to me -- or perhaps there could be a few limited licenses for smoking venues, the way there are now for liquor licenses.

But, sorry, Marty, I don't think the votes are there. You have only one returning council member who voted against the total ban, so you need three more. I can't see who they are.